SRRV in the Philippines: the retirement visa from forty, endorsed by the Retirement Authority
The Philippines runs its retirement route through a body of its own: the Philippine Retirement Authority assembles and endorses the application, and the Bureau of Immigration issues the visa. Open from the age of forty, built on a deposit that varies with age and pension, and unusually light once granted. Asia Relocation Philippines files it, from the bank's certificate to the visa, and keeps it.
Retiring in the Philippines runs on a different track from every other residence route. The Philippine Retirement Authority receives the application, checks the deposit at an accredited bank, and endorses the file; the Bureau of Immigration then issues a special non-immigrant visa that gives permanent residence and multiple entry for as long as the deposit stays in place.
The deposit is where the route is decided. Its amount depends on the option, on whether you have a lifetime pension, and on which side of fifty you are: the authority publishes a schedule, and the band from forty is the reform that opened the visa to a younger public. Once granted, the visa exempts the household from the annual report, the registration card, the travel tax and the exit permits other residents owe.
Asia Relocation Philippines has filed retirement visas since 2011, and it is the route most of our reviews come from. The consultant who reads the schedule against your age and pension starts the apostilles before you fly and carries the file from the authority to the Bureau.
What the retirement file carries, and what belongs to another page
The deposit and the paperwork are ours; where to live and what to invest in have pages of their own.
Carried by the service
- The option and the deposit: classic or courtesy, pensioner or not, the age band, read from the authority's schedule against your situation, with the pension proved where it lowers the deposit.
- The bank: the authority's letter of introduction for a private accredited bank or the instructions for the government bank, the inward remittance sent with the right purpose, the bank's certificate obtained.
- The documents: passport with a tourist stay kept valid, the authority's form, the medical certificate and police clearance within their windows, the immigration clearance certificate, the investigation-bureau clearance where the stay requires it, photographs, every foreign document apostilled.
- The dependants: spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one, each with their own form, clearances and proof of relationship, on the initial application or added after.
- Endorsement and issue: the file lodged with the authority, followed to endorsement, the visa issued by the Bureau of Immigration, and the annual fee and the deposit's conditions tracked afterwards.
The schedule that applies to you is written down, with the option, before any money is remitted.
A different page
- The eligibility band from forty. How the reform works and which of the three paths fits: our guide to retiring in the Philippines from forty.
- Residence through investment rather than a deposit. Capital invested in eligible activities, endorsed by the investment board: the Special Investor's Resident Visa.
- Taking a job in retirement. The labour department's Alien Employment Permit, confirmed before you sign.
- Where you will live. Finding the home and negotiating the Letter of Intent is home search in Manila, on the same file if you wish.
One coordinator for the visa and, if you want it, for the move that follows.
Classic, courtesy, and courtesy for former Filipinos
The authority publishes three options; the deposit and the documents follow from which one you fall under.
Classic, with a pension
For a principal with a lifetime pension of at least eight hundred US dollars a month, one thousand with dependants: a deposit of fifteen thousand from fifty, twenty-five thousand between forty and forty-nine, usable later for investments the programme allows.
Classic, without a pension
The same option for a principal who cannot show the pension: thirty thousand from fifty, fifty thousand between forty and forty-nine. The band is what the age-forty reform changed.
Courtesy, foreign nationals
For retired diplomats, officers of international organisations recognised by the foreign affairs department, retired military members, and high achievers in business, arts, sports and philanthropy. A lower deposit, with proof of the qualification.
Courtesy, former Filipinos
For Filipinos naturalised elsewhere who have not re-acquired their citizenship: the lowest deposit of the programme, on an old Philippine passport or a birth certificate from the statistics authority. Re-acquiring citizenship may be the better route.
Documents abroad, deposit at the bank, file with the authority, visa from the Bureau
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The option and the schedule
Your age, your pension and your history read against the three options; the deposit and the document list fixed in writing. If citizenship re-acquisition serves you better, we say so.
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Documents before you fly
Police clearance, birth and marriage certificates apostilled or authenticated in your country, translated into English where needed. The slowest step, and slower from Manila.
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Arrival, clearances, the bank
The tourist stay kept valid for the processing, the medical certificate at an accredited clinic, the immigration clearance certificate, and the deposit remitted to an accredited bank with the authority's letter where a private bank is chosen.
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The authority's endorsement
The complete file lodged with the Philippine Retirement Authority with the bank's certificate, followed to endorsement, then implemented as a visa by the Bureau of Immigration.
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The years after
The annual fee to the authority, the deposit kept or converted as the programme allows, dependants added when the family changes.
The retirees the programme was written for
Retirees with a pension
The lower deposit under the classic option, on proof of a lifetime pension. The commonest file, from North America and Europe to Cebu.
People retiring early, from forty
The band the reform opened, with a higher deposit. The reason the option is read before the money moves.
Former Filipinos coming home
The courtesy option at the lowest deposit, or citizenship re-acquired instead. The two routes are compared before either file opens.
Couples and families retiring together
Spouse and children under twenty-one on the same file, with the additional deposit beyond two dependants read from the schedule first.
Filed with the authority in Manila, for retirees settling anywhere in the country
The file goes to the Philippine Retirement Authority and the Bureau of Immigration, both in Manila; the retirees we serve settle in Metro Manila, Cebu and Clark.
The authority and the Bureau sit in the capital, and so does the filing. A retiree who intends to live in Cebu or Clark travels for the steps that require presence, and we schedule them so the trips are few.
The accredited banks have branches in the capital's business districts and, for some, in Cebu; the bank is chosen with the option, because the authority's letter of introduction names the branch.
What retirees ask before depositing in the Philippines
Who can apply for the SRRV?
How much is the deposit?
What counts as a pension?
What does the visa exempt me from?
Can I withdraw the deposit later?
Can I work on it?
Which documents does the authority ask for?
Can I add dependants later?
Investing instead of depositing, and the whole silo
You would rather invest than deposit
Residence built on capital invested in eligible activities, endorsed by the Board of Investments, without an age condition.
Special Investor's Resident Visa →Every route into the Philippines, on one page
Employment, marriage, retirement, investment, citizenship, and what comes after the first visa.
Visa and immigration services in the Philippines →Tell us your age and whether you have a pension, and we read the schedule for you
One coordinator from the apostilles to the visa.
Start the retirement file →